Fertilizer industry giants Mosaic and Nutrien have found themselves in the crosshairs of federal officials over allegations of collusion and price fixing, according to media reports in the past week.

During a webinar for the National Ag Law Center, USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said the two companies were colluding to limit U.S. fertilizer supply and control prices.

Last year, in the face of skyrocketing fertilizer costs and financial troubles for farmers, federal officials threatened more scrutiny could be coming to the fertilizer industry due to alleged collusion and market manipulation.

Vaden, a former judge in the U.S. Court of International Trade, suggested the administration would do “everything it can” to ensure farmers have the fertilizer they need at prices they can afford to pay. “We’re not going to allow these two companies to do anything to undermine this,” he said.

No-Till Farmer reached out to Mosaic and Nutrien Monday for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Farm Action, a nonpartisan, farmer-led watchdog group that pushes for government and corporate accountability in food and agriculture, published a report in 2021 about the fertilizer industry, pointing out that Nutrien and Mosaic were responsible for more than 90% of North American phosphate fertilizer and potash production in 2024.

With distribution, Farm Action said, 7 companies control 70% of crop input sales — which includes Nutrien Ag Solutions, the retail business of Nutrien.

According to Agri-Pulse, Vaden described Nutrien and Mosaic had a grip on the market as a “duopoly” that was driving up costs. Vaden told attendees a fertilizer mine was being proposed in Canada with the U.S. as an export market that could affect market conditions if it opens on schedule.

“We’re not going to allow these two companies to do anything to undermine this or any other new market participant that wants to come in, provide new fertilizer supply and break up the cute little game that Mosaic and Nutrient have been playing for the last several years,” Vaden said. 

In a recent report about the fertilizer industry, the group said the “Big Three” companies of Mosaic, Nutrien and CF Industries “consolidated monopoly power” over their respective segments of the fertilizer sector in the 1990s, raising fertilizer prices, cutting fertilizer output and reducing the quality and selection of fertilizer products available in the U.S.

Farm Action said that in 2021, the wholesale fertilizer index increased by more than 60% compared to 2020 levels, and in 2022, wholesale fertilizer prices increased even higher, averaging 132% higher than 2020 prices. 

“Fertilizer incumbents claimed those price hikes were attributable to supply chain shocks that increased their input costs, but their own financial documents refute those claims,” the group said. 

“In 2021, Nutrien’s gross manufacturing profit margin was up 669% from 2020, while its cost of goods sold had increased by only 58%. This dramatic expansion of profits is mirrored in financial reporting from other incumbents and these trends continued into 2022, with Mosaic improving on its 2021 profits by 120%, Nutrien by 142%, and CF by 212%.” 

In December, President Trump signed an executive order, “to stop price fixing, anti-competitive behavior, and foreign influence” that he said were driving up grocery prices and threatening the security of the U.S. food supply. 

Trump directed the U.S. Attorney General’s Office and Federal Trade Commission to each establish a “Food Supply Chain Security Task Force” in their agencies to, “aggressively investigate price fixing and anti-competitive practices across the food sector.”

Trump said both task forces would have the power to bring enforcement actions and propose new rules to stop anti-competitive behavior and restore competition. 

In recent years, the order noted, “major players in America’s food supply chain have paid tens of millions to settle price fixing lawsuits. Sectors including meat processing, seed, fertilizer and farm equipment may be vulnerable to anti-competitive manipulation that result in higher prices for farmers and consumers.”